Your guide to retirement planning

Looking forward to comfortable, enjoyable retirement? Then, you need to do some planning.

10:20 02 September 2013

Retirement should be something to look forward to. It’s the end of your working days and it is the phase in your life when you can focus on things that you’ve been dreaming of for a very long time. Perhaps, you are looking forward to finally writing that book or start travelling different countries. For you to be able to fully enjoy your golden years, it is important to ensure that you are financially secured once you hit retirement age.

The first thing that you need to do is to determine the age when you would like to retire. Although most people decide to stop working at the age of 65, you have the option to retire early as long as you can support yourself with the money you saved. Of course, early retirement would require you to be more aggressive in saving money for your retirement fund.

Next is to know how much you’re going to need once you hit retirement. List down utility bills that you’re going to pay, the amount of money that you’re going to need to support your desired lifestyle, and the cost of medicine and hospitalisation. Do not forget to take into consideration the inflation rate when doing this.

Next is to start saving as soon as you can. Ideally, you would want to put at least 10per cent of your earnings to your retirement fund. Instead of leaving this money in a regular savings account, invest it on the stock market, mutual funds, or bonds to maximise your earning potential.